


Drowning

by Savageseraph



Series: Drowning and Surfacing [1]
Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Accidents, Community: contrelamontre, Drowning, Homecoming, Injury, Love, M/M, Near Death, New Zealand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-23
Updated: 2003-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-02 19:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savageseraph/pseuds/Savageseraph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lij could be so fucking clueless sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drowning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://community.livejournal.com/contrelamontre/profile)[](http://community.livejournal.com/contrelamontre/)**contrelamontre**. An improv fic with the following guidelines: Write a story from the point of view of someone who's neither part of the pairing, nor in love with one or more parts of the pairing. The time limit is 60 minutes.
> 
> See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.

Lij could be so fucking clueless sometimes. OK, a lot of the time. Clueless came in handy. People found it endearing, were willing to cut you slack because of it. Now, it wasn't as if I didn't like Lij. I did. Most of the time. But I didn't want to be with him. Not today.

I had the whole day planned, before Lij caught me snogging the girl from the company management staff. She was going to be stocking Sean's apartment with a list of necessaries he'd faxed over before he flew back from England. Convincing her to let me play courier for Sean was almost too easy. Damn, I missed the bastard, and I needed to talk to him about all the shit that had gone down the last few days because it was really bothering me, and no one would talk about it, though it was bothering them too.

Perfect plan, exceptional execution. Then Lij turned up in the wrong place at the worst bloody time, until he insisted that he come along and help. Little wanker wouldn't let it or me go.

I ignored him as I stood in Sean's kitchen and put away groceries, hoping he would just leave me alone. He didn't. He stayed and provided a constant running monologue that I didn't listen to but couldn't entirely block out. My head started to throb long before I heard the engine of Sean's Jeep in the drive.

The door into the apartment barely had time to click shut before Lij burst out of the kitchen. I tried to grab him, missed. Bloody wanker.

"Sean!"

Lij launched himself at Sean, arms wrapping around the other man's shoulders, thighs around Sean's hips. Sean's arms came around Elijah's back even as he staggered a bit under the weight.

"We're so glad you're back."

Something softened in Sean's gaze at the "we," and his eyes tracked toward the kitchen. Toward me. His smile slipped, just for a second, when he saw me. I wasn't the person he was hoping for.

I nodded at him. "Hey, Bean. Good to see ya."

"You too, Elf."

Lij slid off Sean. "You're not angry we're here are you?"

"No," Sean squeezed Lij's shoulder. "Just tired. Feels like I haven't slept in days."

Lij nodded wisely muttering, "Of course. Sure." But Sean didn't sound tired. He sounded...tense. Tight with lingering aftereffects of a long flight and perhaps something else.

Sean forced a too intense grin that Lij returned just like it was genuine. I wondered if Lij was smart enough to tell the difference.

"So what are you two doing here on such a nice day? Wouldn't think Peter would want to waste the light."

I stared at Lij, willed him to keep his mouth shut just this once. While I was no master of the stern gaze, he looked away from me, stared at his feet. His hands were jammed in his pockets, shoulders slumped. I wanted to shake him.

"Come on," Sean said, a hint of genuine humor beginning to tinge his voice. "What did you do?"

Elijah looked up. "Us? It wasn't us, honest."

"Right." He nodded, cocked his head to the side.

"It wasn't. It was Viggo." I elbowed Lij hard, and he gave a yelp. He shoved me. "That hurt, you prick."

"Viggo?" Sean smirked, the look of a man who knew he was being battered with bullshit. "What did Vig do?"

Elijah shrugged, muttered something about getting Sean tea, and then retreated into the kitchen. I wanted to murder him. Only something slow and painful would do.

"Orlando." The full force of Sean's gaze fell on me; only now his voice had a dangerous edge. Brittle and sharp.

I took a deep breath, let it out. "He almost died, Sean."

Sean's smile evaporated. "What did you say?"

"He almost died." I swallowed around a bitter lump lodged in the back of my throat. "There was this scene, where Aragorn falls unconscious into the river. They were filming him floating downstream. A current pulled him under. He nearly drowned."

"I saw it, Bean." I grabbed his arms, my fingers shaking too much to really grip. "Saw him go under. And I kept waiting and he didn't come up and it seemed like such a long time and..."

He shook me. "Where is he now?"

"Dunno. Maybe at home. Maybe."

I didn't have a chance to finish before he was out the door. Leaving me to press my fingers tight against the corners of my eyes to stop the tears that already wet my lashes and threatened to spill. The tears I wouldn't let Lij see. I shivered as I imagined them flowing back into me, into my lungs. Drowning. It hurt so damned much just to breathe.

Tires squealed as Sean pulled out of the drive. I shouldn't have let him go alone. If I felt this undone after a few days, he had to be worse. The news was still fresh with him, and he loved Viggo. Least I thought he might.

I knew that Viggo loved him. Knew it the night of the accident when I stopped outside Viggo's trailer. Viggo sat curled in on himself in the corner of the sofa, not moving, not blinking. I was about to knock when he reached for the phone and called Sean. He didn't mention the accident, just let the sound of Sean's voice soothe him, talk him back from the edge. Not long after he hung up, Viggo fell asleep, clutching the phone to his chest.

No, better that Sean went alone to find Viggo.

Lij had a worry line between his brows as he came out of the kitchen with a mug of tea. "Where'd Sean go?"

So. Fucking. Clueless.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Floating, Diving](https://archiveofourown.org/works/235006) by [FoxRafer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxRafer/pseuds/FoxRafer)




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